25,000 guests celebrated in the center of Esch and in the Esch-Belval university district with live music, DJs, dance, light installations and performances. As the highlight of the evening, old blast furnaces on the former smelter site in Belval were transformed into a multimedia rocket launch pad. A virtual start into space with steam and smoke was staged with a light show and projections.
Media art by Peter Weibel
With this highly symbolic start, Esch an der Alzette wants to reposition itself on the cultural map. “We are showing that a region shaped by the steel industry can also have culture,” said Mayor Georges Mischo. For the year of culture, the city of 36,000 brought 18 other communities in southern Luxembourg and France on board – with 200,000 people from 120 nations. The idea is for these communities to get moving through cultural projects. Under the motto “Remix Culture” 160 projects with more than 2000 events are planned this year.
The first exhibitions were opened yesterday on the former steel site in Esch-Belval. Media art by the artist Peter Weibel, who grew up in Upper Austria, can be seen in the renovated “Möllerei”.
In addition to Esch, Novi Sad in Serbia and Kaunas in Lithuania are also European Capitals of Culture this year.
Source: Nachrichten
